{"id":416697,"date":"2026-04-25T09:55:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416697\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T09:55:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T09:55:14","slug":"taoiseach-leads-tributes-to-former-mayor-joe-carroll-following-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/416697\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach leads tributes to former mayor Joe Carroll following death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has led tributes to former mayor of Co Cork<\/a>, councillor Joe Carroll, following his death on Friday.<\/p>\n

Mr Carroll, who served as mayor in 2024, died after a short illness with pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n

Originally from Dunmanway, Mr Carroll was elected to Skibbereen Town Council in 1999, dedicating his time as a local representative to improving infrastructure, tourism, and youth and age-friendly initiatives across West Cork.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was elected to Cork County Council<\/a> in 2004, representing the Skibbereen-West Cork local electoral area.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said: “Joe was an institution in Cork politics, both in his home area of West Cork and beyond. He was gregarious and very hard-working. Always on the ground, Joe was a natural public representative.<\/p>\n

“He cared deeply and passionately about his community and the people he represented. He advocated tirelessly for them and worked to improve the lives of the communities and people he represented. Joe had a tremendous understanding of all issues that impacted on the people within his electoral area.<\/p>\n

“Right throughout his public life, Joe was a true champion for Skibbereen, supporting local business and enterprise.”<\/p>\n

\"Miche\u00e1lMiche\u00e1l Martin with Joe Carroll at the Cork SFC final in 2024 where Castlehaven defeated Nemo Rangers at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh. File picture: Brian Lougheed<\/p>\n

An ‘incredible’ person<\/p>\n

Speaking to the\u00a0 Irish Examiner, Fianna F\u00e1il Cork South West TD Christopher O\u2019Sullivan said Mr Carroll was an \u201cincredible\u201d person who brought \u201cgreat craic and joy to every occasion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s devastating \u2014 he was so joyful and will leave a massive hole in Skibbereen,” said Mr O’Sullivan.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an amazing singer and musician, and he was particularly loved by American delegations who came over from Massachusetts and Chicago \u2014 Joe was always the life and soul of the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember my first ever election, we ran on the same ticket, and the caption on his poster was \u2018talk to Joe\u2019, and that was so accurate because Joe was someone people could talk to, he was just so approachable and amenable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a giant loss to Skibbereen and West Cork as a whole,\u201d said Mr O’Sullivan, adding that Mr Carroll “really fought for the regular people of West Cork”.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cMy thoughts are with Sheila, Linda, his entire family, and all of his friends \u2014 may he rest in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeling of ‘profound sorrow’<\/p>\n

\"ThenThen mayor of Co Cork Joe Carroll with his wife Sheila on May 3, 2025. Picture: Brian Lougheed<\/p>\n

The mayor of Co Cork, Mary Linehan Foley, said there is a feeling of \u201cprofound sorrow at the loss of our wonderful colleague, Joe Carroll\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n He was a fixture of Cork County Council\u2019s business for many years and a distinctive voice in the chamber.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cHe cared deeply about his community. Not only was he held in the highest regard by his fellow councillors, but the respect he earned from his constituents was clearly reflected at the polls.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cork County Council chief executive Moira Murrell said Mr Carroll \u201cdevoted a significant portion of his life to public service, serving the people of West Cork with dedication, integrity and care\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis contribution has left a lasting legacy \u2014 politically, professionally, and personally \u2014 on all who worked with him and on the communities he represented,\u201d said Ms Murrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will be remembered with great fondness by his colleagues and by all staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cCork County Council extends its sincere sympathies to his wife Sheila and family, his elected member colleagues and all those who had the privilege of knowing and working with him.\u201d <\/p>\n

‘Larger than life character’<\/p>\n

Fine Gael councillor for the Skibbereen electoral area Brendan McCarthy said Mr Carroll was a \u201clarger than life character\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was great craic; he was the life and soul of the chamber and any room he was in,\u201d said Mr McCarthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe town is in utter shock and devastation \u2014 I\u2019ve known him all my life but served with him in the town council in Skibbereen from 2004 to 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking forward to working with him many more times, he taught me so much about the running of the county council.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in different political parties, but we were always good friends,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n He wasn\u2019t from Skibbereen by birth, but after 50 years, he was one of us.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a huge circle of great friends and was loved by his family. My condolences are with all of them during this time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Social Democrats Cork South West TD Holly Cairns said many would remember \u201cwhat a character Joe was and what a hard-working councillor he was for the area\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so sorry to hear of Joe\u2019s sudden passing,\u201d said Ms Cairns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always remember how Joe went out of his way to encourage and include me when I first decided to run for the council.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe invited me to a meeting, collected me, and chatted to me about politics the whole way there and back. That is the kind of person he was, and the person that all of Skibbereen will miss.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart goes out to his wife Sheila, and all his family and friends at this time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Funeral details<\/p>\n

A death notice on RIP.ie for Mr Carroll, published on Friday night, said he had died surrounded by his loving family \u2014 wife Sheila, daughter Linda, son Kieran, and granddaughter Anna \u2014 and would be \u201clovingly remembered\u201d by his family, colleagues, and a large circle of friends.<\/p>\n

A rosary will be said for Mr Carroll by family and close friends at Hurley & O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s funeral home in Skibbereen on Saturday at 7pm. He will then repose at the same location on Sunday between 4pm and 7pm.<\/p>\n

The funeral service will be held on Monday at 12pm in St Patrick\u2019s Cathedral in the town before Mr Carroll is laid to rest in nearby St Patrick\u2019s cemetery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has led tributes to former mayor of Co Cork, councillor Joe Carroll, following his death…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[79,63,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-416697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-cork-county-council","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}